Joining hundreds of civic, community, and faith leaders across North Carolina, the town of Franklin voted to pass a resolution Monday night in support of closing North Carolina’s Health Insurance Gap.
Closing the health insurance coverage gap would extend insurance to approximately 1,322 uninsured individuals in Macon County and 750,000 across the entire state. Studies show that in Franklin alone, closing the gap through Medicaid Expansion would drive new business and healthcare activity that would create 62 new jobs, benefiting small businesses, healthcare providers, and individuals while supporting a thriving economy and productive workforce.
With funding from the Federal Government’s COVID19 relief bill available, federal funding would cover 90 percent of costs for states to close the health insurance coverage gap to citizens.
Expanding Medicaid eligibility under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) in the states that haven’t already done so would lead to the creation of more than 1 million jobs nationwide, according to a new report from researchers at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation that supports independent research on health policy reform.
Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Missouri would experience the largest economic gains by expanding Medicaid eligibility, the report finds.
The ARP increases federal funding for states that adopt the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion by paying 90% of the cost of covering newly-eligible adults, with an additional five-percentage-point “bonus” federal match on existing state Medicaid expenditures for two years.
The resolution passed by the town of Franklin will be sent to the North Carolina General Assembly, urging them to take action on Medicaid Expansion.
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